diff --git a/cmd/soong_ui/main.go b/cmd/soong_ui/main.go
index e778bd638..aee8e5a49 100644
--- a/cmd/soong_ui/main.go
+++ b/cmd/soong_ui/main.go
@@ -471,11 +471,9 @@ func make(ctx build.Context, config build.Config, _ []string, logsDir string) {
 		ctx.Fatal("done")
 	}
 
-	var toBuild int
-	if _, ok := config.Environment().Get("USE_BAZEL"); ok {
+	toBuild := build.BuildAll
+	if config.UseBazel() {
 		toBuild = build.BuildAllWithBazel
-	} else {
-		toBuild = build.BuildAll
 	}
 
 	if config.Checkbuild() {
diff --git a/ui/build/config.go b/ui/build/config.go
index e57c7303c..1b98f81f8 100644
--- a/ui/build/config.go
+++ b/ui/build/config.go
@@ -840,6 +840,16 @@ func (c *configImpl) UseRBE() bool {
 	return false
 }
 
+func (c *configImpl) UseBazel() bool {
+	if v, ok := c.environ.Get("USE_BAZEL"); ok {
+		v = strings.TrimSpace(v)
+		if v != "" && v != "false" {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
 func (c *configImpl) StartRBE() bool {
 	if !c.UseRBE() {
 		return false